Ramen Works Just As Well
by Innocent heart2
Summary: Naruto is oblivious as ever and one shopkeeper is tired of it. NaruHina.


**_Mizu: I wrote this story a LONG time ago. I finally found it after randomly going through some of my old folders. It's just some rambling really. Anyways, I wrote this before I realized that there was no way that Sasuke was going to come back and before I had ever dreamt that Hinata would actually tell Naruto she loved him the way that she did... It's based sometime after the beginning of the Shippuden series. Disclaimer time. I don't own Naruto. If I did, Naruto wouldn't have to freakin' die just to save Sasuke! (if you can't tell, I'm not really a Sasuke fangirl. Never really was and defiantly never will now!)_**

_**Ramen works just as well**_

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The shop owner of Ichiraku ramen had watched it happen hundreds of time. A girl would come in and the boy that she liked would follow. They'd pretend not to notice each other as they sat and when they reached for chopsticks, they'd brush each others hand. Now, normally the boy would ask the girl if he could treat her to a bowl and she'd say yes. Then the two would go on one or two dates. After that, who knows? But there was this one boy…Boy, was he dense. The girl who'd like him would only come in if he did. She'd do exactly as all the others did but the boy would always notice her. Which is saying something. The girl was always so quiet, he barely ever heard her order.

"Hey! Old man! Hinata said that she wanted a small miso ramen!" the boy would snap and then go back to telling her about his latest mission.

To make things worse for the girl was that when the boy noticed that she was reaching for chopsticks at the same time, he'd speed his hand up and hand her a pair. The owner knew that she was getting frustrated at him. But who'd wouldn't? The boy was either too observant or too dense.

So one day, when he heard the boy coming down the street towards his shop and saw the girl hiding, the owner made a quick effort to hide all the bowls.

"Hey old man!" the boy called, entering his shop.

"Oh, hey Naruto!" he answered.

"H-hi," the girl stuttered.

"A bowl of barbeque pork ramen! And make it a big one!" Naruto exclaimed, sitting down.

"a-a small miso ramen," the girl stuttered.

"Did you get that, old man?" Naruto questioned.

"Yeah, but we've got a problem," the shop keeper said, trying not to smile, "Today's rush was extremely large and Ayame left on a date or something so I haven't had a chance to wash bowls. I only have this bowl."

He set a giant bowl on the counter.

"Oh! I c-can come another time, t-then," Hinata stuttered, knowing that the boy wouldn't.

"No, Hinata, you got here at the same time that I did. That bowls too big even for me. We'll share, k?" Naruto said, grabbing her hand to keep her from leaving, "I'll just change mine to Miso, then old man."

"Coming right up!" he said, trying to contain any laughter.

The girl's face was such a dark red. The boy must have been oblivious, just like he had been for the longest time.

While the shop keeper made the ramen, he could hear the two reminisce.

"Man, I remember when I was still a genin," Naruto stated, stretching, "Now that I look back, I see how stupid I acted."

"Me…too," Hinata stated.

"It's hard to believe that we left that academy five years ago," Naruto said, staring at Hinata.

She just nodded while Naruto continued to stare at her.

"I even remember that stupid crush I had on Sakura," Naruto chuckled.

The shop keeper nearly dropped the ramen he was preparing. Naruto had never stated that his crush was anything but to be. What on earth was going on?

"I should've known that she'd forever love Sasuke," Naruto sighed, "But that's the past. So what's new with you, Hinata? I haven't been in the village much lately. With all these missions Grandma Tsunade keeps giving me and the fact that Sasuke's in my and Sakura's watch at all time, I barely have time to train let alone rest."

"N-Nothing really. I became a Jounin last week while you were gone, though," Hinata said.

"What? That's great Hinata! That's absolutely amazing!" Naruto gasped.

"Order up!" the shop keeper said, placing the huge bowl in front of the two.

"Here you go, Hinata," Naruto said, handing her a pair of chopsticks.

"T-Thank you, Naruto," Hinata stuttered.

"No problem," Naruto grinned.

The owner pretended to do dishes while he waited for the inevitable to happen. He looked over his shoulder and saw what he wanted to. The two trying to bit part a piece of ramen just before their lips touched.

"Good luck with that. That piece only has one place that can be bit apart. The exact middle," the owner smirked.

Both their faces turned dark red. Just at that moment, their squads entered the shop, looking for their teammate. The four chunin and the two Jounin leaders stopped in their tracks and stared. Naruto started to shake from embarrassment while Hinata tried to block them out by closing her eyes. Their teams turned and left, but their laughter rang throughout the street.

"You two better hurry because there are bound to be more people who will come before the next rush," the owner smirked.

Naruto finally took a deep breath and finally closed the gap between their mouths. What should have been a quick kiss to cut the piece of ramen turned into a…well you know. When they finally decided to break the kiss, the owner had set all the bowl back up and was getting ready to hide from the flying kunai. But the kunai never came. He looked back up and saw the two staring into each other's eyes. They finally stood up, at the same time, put the money on the counter and ran off to some secret place. What they did? Who knows? ;p

The owner smiled to himself, picking up the hug bowl.

"Who needs spaghetti when ramen works just as well?" he joked.

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**_Mizu: Again, just some old rambling. Just thought that I'd post it here. Hope you guys liked it! Remember, all reviews are entirely welcome. NaruHina forever! Ciao for now!_**


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